Does anyone else have such hyper-skin sensitivity that brushing your hair or pulling a shirt over your head gives you the shivers? I am in a major flare up at the moment and this particular sensation is driving me crazy. I have to wear either flannel or soft cotton...any clothing with a texture bothers my skin. I feel like someone beat me with a sack of bowling balls then set me on fire. For the past year, I have also been experiencing tingling/crawling in my legs. No weakness, no numbness.

I am 61 years old and have, over the years, been dx'd with Fibro, anxiety disorder, RLS, Meniere's disease and TMJ. I have had every test known to man, including heavy metal poisoning. My recent blood work came back perfect. Every scan and ANA I have had came back negative, except for some disc compression. Doc put me on Lexapro for anxiety, valium for Restless Leg. The problem is, I can't take Advil with Lexapro and Fibro laughs at Tylenol.

I know there is really no answer for what to do...I guess just hearing that I'm not alone helps me get through it.

Hi, Donna, and welcome to the fibromyalgia forum! I'm so glad you joined us. I liked your description of how you feel. That hits the nail right on the head!

Skin sensitivity is a symptom of fibromyalgia. My scalp has always been sensitive. When I was a child and my Mom would try to brush my long hair, I was is such pain and could actually taste blood in my mouth and would scrunch down towards the floor. Mom would yell at me to stand up. I also like very comfy clothes now. As soon as I get home, the bra comes off and I get in shifts.

Your sensitivity is stronger than what I have had but there are other members that have been bad like that and I'm sure they'll come along. I do get the feeling like I have a bug crawling on my leg or that there is cold water on my legs or feet, but when I feel, they are warm and dry.

Be sure to check out the Fibro 101 thread...the second thread on the forum. There is a lot of good info in there, along with a list of symptoms.

I take ibuprofen and Tylenol for pain and I also take malic acid/magnesium supplements for pain and fatigue. There is a link in the Fibro 101 thread about malic acid/magnesium supplements. They have really helped me.

Meanwhile, read posts and ask questions. We are here to help you. I'm glad you were able to post and I hope to hear more from you soon!

Thank you all so much for your kind responses. I was very reluctant to ask any questions on a forum again after an experience I had last year on a popular Anxiety Forum. When the leg tingling started up with a vengence, I asked if anyone had ever taken Magnesium for RLS and if anyone noticed anxiety making it worse. I got a reply from a MODERATOR that read: OMG! Your symptoms are just like mine and I have MS...get yourself an MRI with contrast immediately before your memory goes!" Even after telling her that I had been tested for MS in the past, she insisted I needed a more recent scan, then linked me to an MS forum. I literally had a nervous breakdown. We lost our health insurance when we moved from VA to NY and I had just suffered the loss of four immediate family members over the course of three years. I was already on the edge, and wondered how we were going to pay for MS treatment. Thankfully, my doc is a family friend and a rhuemotologist. I went running to his office with this ridiculous statement made by a complete stranger and he just shook his head. He told me I had about as much chance as getting MS at 61 as I did getting pregnant. That's when I started the Lexapro and valium.

I am a writer and haven't been able to write a sentence in a year. Don't know if it's 'The Fog' or the mind numbing Lexapro. I know that anxiety and Fibro have identical symptoms and can over lap. I guess I just have to hang in there and figure out which is which, and what to do about it. Today, I feel like there is a vibrator against my heel...buzzing! Oh well....

I have gotten that buzzing feeling but it is fleeting for me. Other members get that too. You definitely are not alone.

I'm so sorry you had that experience on the other forum. In the Fibro 101 thread, there is a link called "What Else Could It Be" because fibro mimics many different illnesses. I'm sure your doctor, since he is a rheumatologist, has done the testing and blood work to rule out those other things. That's why he just shook his head.

Anxiety is a toughy and I did suffer from that years ago. It can be so totally disabling. They had me on so much Valium that it was affecting my personality. I finally started to think...anxiety is actually fear. What was I afraid of? There was nothing I was afraid of! (That's why I have the signature that I do.) I had a good doctor that had thoroughly checked me out so I decided I wasn't going to let this anxiety thing run my life! I got so I could recognize the feeling of anxiety coming on and I would just "dismiss" it and focus on something else. I knew I wasn't going to die from these feelings. It took a little practice but I RARELY have anxiety now. I also do not take Valium or any other anxiety meds. So, it can be beaten with some practice.

I'm sure the fibrofog isn't helping, but you will get back to writing again. That's a great job for someone with fibro! Just plan on it! You can do anything that you put your mind to. So many times we put limitations on ourselves. What we tell ourselves becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy! Instead look at all the positives you have in your life and you will find that the words will flow again. But, with the fog, make sure you have a good Thesaurus and Spell Checker!

You will be just fine. We are here to help you live a full and enjoyable life with fibro. Don't hesitate to ask questions. We have some great people here that have good ideas to help and there is always a lot of support on this forum. I'm so glad you have arrived. We love to have new "fibro family" members!

Hi Donna and welcome. We do not make dx on here. We offer help and support but leave the dx to docs. I'm glad you have a rheumy that is a friend.

I too have anxiety and I haven't had the success Sherrine has with getting rid of it. Thank God for meds like xanax and valium.

The bottom of my feet didn't use to be sensitive or ticklish, my husband tried for years to tickle my feet and nothing. We recently got a new puppy and of course she loves feet or any body parts that move. I have noticed her touching the bottom of my feet actually makes my legs restless which is a whole new feeling for me. The bottom of my feet have been burning and tingling for a while now and are more sensitive to walking.

I too dress according to the feel of the material on my skin. Fashion went out the window long ago for me. I've been in the process of changing summer and winter clothes around and I'm getting rid of things by the feel of the material not whether it is in style or out of style.

Thank you all again for your support. Sometimes just reassurance from fellow sufferers is better than any doctor visit! I guess I was just getting scared again because the doc didn't even suggest another MRI or even an ANA. He knows we don't have insurance (just try getting insurance in your 60's once another company has dropped you because you are 'out of network'....$1500 a month!) and told me it would be a waste of money. He said if my scans and ANA's were negative when I was 50, and then again at 55, I do NOT have have MS. He did order $1000 of other blood work, however, checking for magnesium levels, sed rates and thyroid etc. I suppose having anxiety is the culprit here, always thinking they have missed something!

You have all been wonderful and I am glad you are here. I hope I don't drive you all crazy!

Hi DonnaI have read the above posts and can sympathize with you. Sometimes the interent can be a great "friend" and othe times its can be a great "enemy".Numerous times, since I suffer from severe anxiety, I have talked myself into having disease after disease, when it is just my anxiety. When I say anxiety, I dont take that lightly, as it has sometimes paralyzed me and it is a living hell when it gets out of line. I am glad you are listening to your Dr,and he is the ONLY one who can dx you, and no one on this forum and anyplace else can do that. Sometimes I have to stay off the computer for this reason, as my mind just goes goofy thinking the worse. Hope you are doing better, and you will be just fine!!!!Tootie

Donna, your anxiety can surely do that! How about, every morning, write in a journal what you are thinking that is negative. Put it on paper and then close the journal and put it away for the day. Then focus on the positive things. Since you've put the negative things away, try your hand at writing. Pick something that is happy, joyful, etc. to write about. Maybe you have some great memories of childhood or after marriage. Perhaps it's stories about your children if you have any...or grandchildren. I think if you keep your mind occupied with things other than your health, you will start feeling better. Really! Give it a try and see how it goes. Don't forget to let me know!

Sherrine, I know exactly what you mean about finding a distraction. Writng has always been my passion. I have four books in print and have done some free lance stuff. The problem is that sitting at the computer for hours(again, I forget my limits and sit too long to the point where my husband has to remind me to eat) makes the RLS go crazy. The pads of my fingers are sore from the Fibro. The compressed discs make my back go numb. I have actually tried to stand at the butcher block in the kitchen with the computer. The worst is the lexapro which dulls my senses...it does what it is supposed to do...suppress emotion and I can't write without that.

Before we moved here four years ago to take care of my mom, I did book signings every Christmas. I can't imagine doing that now...if you saw in my first post I wrote 'hyper skin sensitivity' instead of 'skin hyper sensitivity'. That's the kind of thing that comes out of my mouth!

I know you can't give medical advice but if YOU were ME, would you wean off the Lexapro and see what happens? Doc says I can if I want, but all I can think about is last year when I sat in a chair and cried for two months after the death of my younger brother. (mother, father, grandmother and brother all died within three years). I am still having a hard time with the loss.

I am becoming reclusive because social engagements require clothing that I want to tear off my body. I went to a political function last week for a judge friend that won the election and took my bra off in the bathroom.

I hope this post goes...it denied me access again, twice. It said I was an unauthorized user.

Donna, there are other antidepressants out there. Actually, people with fibro do suffer from depression. I'm one of the few that don't. If the Lexapro is causing this dulling of your senses, that's not good. Another antidepressant may not do that to you. I know people on Zoloft that have had good results and others on Prozac with good results. There are many different antidepressants to choose from so I think, if I were you, I'd want to try something different. It's taking your love of writing from you. You want your meds to help you...not steal your life.

My husband suffered from depression but we didn't know that's what his problem was at first. They didn't talk about depression like they do now. He went to work but was a recluse when he got home. He was put on Prozac and it worked wonders for him!

I do know what you are going through. Back in 1985, we lost my father, my husband's father, and my husband's 42 year old sister in a five month period. Then, in 1997, I lost my husband suddenly and, seventeen days later, my Mom had a massive brainstem stroke. She lived but suffered for 2 1/2 years and I was her caregiver. Once you get through the grieving you will be much better. That's where my faith played a big part.

Try not to become a recluse. That's the easy thing to do but can make your life miserable. See if you can find a more comfortable bra. Some like those sports bras...especially if you aren't greatly endowed. They are supposed to be comfortable. Pick comfortable clothing, too. It's so good to get out and be with other people and friends. I'm going out to lunch with a friend tomorrow. I go on day trips with a travel group and have a wonderful time. I'm always glad to get back home, but I'm also glad I went! So, don't give up on life. There is a lot of enjoyment left for you.

As far as what comes out of your mouth, you need to have a good sense of humor with fibro. I just laugh at myself now. As far as your writing, could your husband or a friend proof-read your writing? They would catch those obvious mistakes. I'm sure the gist of what you are writing about would come through. Those little mistakes are unimportant and can be easily fixed! So, don't let fibro control you and the life you really want to live! There are always ways to work around it and still do the things you love to do.

In the Fibro 101 thread there is a list of stretching exercises that are done sitting down. You could print these out and use these at your computer. Buy a timer and set it for a half and hour. When it goes off, get up and walk for a few minutes...get a drink of water, use the bathroom, and then head back and reset it for another half an hour. Check the clock when you are up and, if it is close to lunch or dinner, make something you enjoy. The computer and what you have written will be there when you get back. You see, with fibro you do need to pace yourself. You can't do what you want to in the same time period you used to. My carpeting needs to be steam cleaned. I steam cleaned the family room today. Tomorrow I need to shop so that's on my agenda. Wednesday I'll steam clean the living room and dining room...see what I mean? I just make a plan for the day and follow it. I don't demand more than my body can handle. You will learn what you can do without becoming too sore.

This is becoming a book but I did want to suggest a lumbar support pillow for your back. I also sit on a memory foam pillow so my backside doesn't hurt, too! I have scoliosis and my lower back can get painful if I don't take care in making my seat comfy.

I think I answered your questions and gave you some ideas. I do hope this helps you. You can live your life and do the things you enjoy doing with fibromyalgia. You need to be your own advocate and use your head when it comes to medications. Remember, you hired your doctor. You are the boss! My doctor wanted me to try Lyrica but I do not want to take anything that makes me drowsy, dizzy, sleepy (sounds like the Seven Dwarves!) etc. I want to be able to get in my car and drive safely. So, I have found ways that help me control my pain and I just move forward. I hope some of this will help you.

I will speak to the administrator about your problems posting on this forum. This should not be happening. Have a great evening!

Thanks again, Sherrine. I have been keeping you busy all day! You have given me some very pragmatic advice and I promise I will try to follow it. Quickly, on another subject, it says you have autoimmune inner ear disease...Is that the same as Menieres? Do you get spinning dizzy with it and do you have to watch what you eat...no salt, MSG, Nitrates etc? I have had Meniere's since I was in my mid twenties...father and grandfather had it and now, one of my sons. I'm almost deaf!

Donna, I do not have Meniere's Disease. My hearing loss is caused by my body attacking my hearing. It is an autoimmune problem. My hearing fell off in chunks. I'm profoundly deaf in the high ranges of sound so I need to lip read to understand speech. I am considered legally deaf but I do still hear a lot of low sounds.

Because this is not Meniere's, I do not get a lot of dizziness, etc. I will get lightheaded but that's from fibro. Also, when the barometric pressure changes, my ears can get fluid in them and I hear even worse.

I use very little salt and I don't use MSG at all. I rarely use prepackaged foods. I love to cook so I make things fresh. That way I can control the salt and keep MSG out of my diet. I just feel better that way.

I'm so sorry that you are having that problem. Here is a link from the Mayo Clinic that gives good advice for Meniere's. You probably know all of this already but just in case...

I wanted to tell you what my PT told me during one of my sessions about the skin sensitivity. She told me that I needed to desensitize my skin by slowly and gently rubbing my skin. She said to start out with something soft and move it up slowly. My skin is not as sensitive as yours but I do have issues that make everyday life difficult. The therapist said that if I don't work on desensitizing, things would only get worse. I left therapy thinking she was absolutely insane but I have heard through others that this is a valid therapy. I'm still working on this, I think it is going to take me some time but I'm gonna give it my best shot. So I don't know if this is something you may want to try, I know my initial reaction was "No Way!" but if it will make things even a little better I'm going to try.

Thank you Meggie, Tootie, Marlee, Sherrine.... and all who have replied. You have helped me immensely. Tootie, I know exactly what you mean about looking up symptoms on the internet. My two month old grand daughter and her mother came for a two week visit from Atlanta last month and got a clogged tear duct. OMG...something so seemingly benign brought up sites with consequences that amost sent us to the ER. Those of us with health anxiety have to to JUST SAY NO when we have the urge to type in our symptoms because we tend to zoom in on, then obsess on the worst case scenerio!

When I used to suffer badly from anxiety, I had a book all about medical problems, their symptoms, and what to do about them. I didn't know how to use the computer at that time so I spent a lot of time reading that book. Well, I was scaring myself half to death. I thought I had a lot of those illnesses and swore I was jaundiced! I felt so miserable and realized what I was doing to myself so the book went in the garbage. It's amazing what our minds can do.

Can't get into this forum to reply. Maybe this one will go...it probably will since I am just testing it again. This makes the tenth time I have tried to thank everyone. Let's see...I will hit submit....

Donneil, just wanted to say that I admire you for being able to reach people with both your words and speech. When I had to do radio promo's for my books I used to make my husband do them because I was so afraid of the luncacy that might come out of my mouth. I once had a signing at Borders and made him do it because they have a discussion session along with the signing. I write with a genderless pen name so it didn't matter. I went shopping. I hope you feel better and get back to your passion soon.

Sherrine...I tossed all of my health books also. I am too sensitive to suggestion. Last month I was playing bridge and was rubbing my leg. My friend asked me why and I told her it was twitching and buzzing. Not knowing about my severe health anxiety issues, she mentioned The Dreaded Fatal Disease that made Dr. Kovorkian so famous. You know the one. I obsessed about it for days even though I have had muscle twitching for 25 years and the occasional buzzing sensation. I have it in my whole leg today...

I once had a therapist tell me health anxiety is the ultimate form of narcisism(sp?). Anyone who can spend days focusing on a twitch is just as self centered as a man who stands at the mirror admiring himself for hours at a time. Everyone and everything around us become white noise as we plan our funeral. We become the center of the Universe, our existence becomes fundemental in the earth revolving around the sun and that twitch that might be fatal will throw the planet off its axis. Of course, he doesn't have the twitch or buzz...or the brain chemistry that takes us to that Dark Place.

I am so sorry about all of your losses and admire you for coping through your faith and acceptance. I hope I will be there with you soon. Time heals all wounds but the scar it leaves stays forever.

Donna, I did notify the administrator about your problem. Hopefully he can take care of it. Could it be your computer? You are the only one that is having this problem. I don't know if the spam controls could do this. I really only know how to turn mine on. I'll ask my son today, too. He is a systems administrator and knows about this stuff.

I tell you what...in my humble opinion, some of these doctors say the darndest things! I'm sure that statement made you feel better. GRRRR..... It's easy to spout this stuff off when YOU don't have the problem.

I know when I was suffering with anxiety, I definitely was not putting myself in the center of the universe. It was fear causing this...a fear of dying young! It is the fight or flight that kicks in the adrenalin and causes the anxiety, again in my opinion. But, when I knew I wasn't going to die from this stuff, I learned how to control those feelings. I learned to dismiss the anxiety before it took over and I also learned how to ignore symptoms that I have no control over. Stop and think about it.

We have far more control than we realize. Look at the people who have picked up automobiles off people to save them! That's not logical but it has happened over and over again. We have power to control our situations but we are allowing our situations to have power over us! I'll be darned if I'll let a few hormones make me miserable when there really is no reason to be so afraid. Once that really sunk in my thick skull, I was able to take control of my life again.

Well, Donna, we will figure out how to get you on this forum with ease. It may take an act of God, but we will! Have a good day!

I'm just going to do a test run before I write anymore posts! I know it takes up space but once I'm in, it lets me stay in. I don't know if it's my computer. I go through the same steps every time and sometimes it says yes and sometimes it says no way! It ALWAYS acknowledges my password and user name and says I have successfully logged in. It's after I press 'submit' that it claims I am an unauthorized user. If no one else is having problems, it's probably me.

I had the same problem when I first started coming here to. Not sure if it was me or my ISP because it used to run really slow.Any doctor that can say that to a patient shouldn't be a doctor anymore. I don't see how anyone's health concerns can be call narcicism (sp?). I once had a doctor tell me that all my medical issues were in my head. The ironic part is that he was in essence right. Not only do I have fibro, but I also have Multiple Sclerosis which is in my head...LOL!! Sorry I just thought that was a funny way for him to say that and end up having it be true 3 years later.